important notes
- Andre Cronje criticized EF for offering “zero support” to developers.
- He claims to have spent over 700 ETH on implementation.
- Polygon's Sandeep Nailwal expressed similar frustrations.
Andre Cronje, a prominent figure in decentralized finance, has publicly criticized the Ethereum Foundation (EF) for a complete lack of support for developers building on the network.
Cronje said he spent more than 700 Ethereum. Ethereum $3,923 24 hour volatility: 2.9% Market capitalization: $47.573 billion Vol. 24 hours: $3.415 billion Deployment and infrastructure discussions took place without support or approval, sparking broader debate about the role of foundations in supporting ecosystem builders.
“I contacted EF, but they didn't respond. There was no lobbying for BD, no grants, zero support, not even retweets,” Cronje said.
Cronje complains of lack of developer support
In a post to
i am confused. So who is paying for and supporting EF? While building ETH, I spent over 700 ETH in deployments and ETH infrastructure. I tried contacting EF but received no response. There was no lobbying or funding for BD. There was zero support, not even a retweet. When I started helping Sonic Eco, I… https://t.co/LmVqXWBXoU
— Andre Cronje (@AndreCronjeTech) October 21, 2025
He compared his experience to that of the project within Sonic. S $0.17 24 hour volatility: 3.6% Market capitalization: $653.9 million Vol. 24 hours: $68.4 million In ecosystems, teams often receive consistent funding, auditing, and marketing support.
The polygon nail wall has the same feeling.
But Cronje is not alone in feeling ignored by Ethereum's leadership. polygon pole $0.20 24 hour volatility: 1.1% Market capitalization: $2.1 billion Vol. 24 hours: $67.28 million Co-founder Sandeep Nailwal expressed similar frustrations with Ethereum’s institutional support.
After reading Peter's message, I realized it was time for me to speak up.
NGL, I started to question my loyalty to Ethereum. I became interested in cryptocurrencies not because of Bitcoin, but because of Ethereum. I also have a lot of gratitude to @VitalikButerin, whom I admired… https://t.co/yrcrGEwXs8
— Sandeep | Polygon Foundation (※,※) CEO (@sandeepnailwal) October 20, 2025
Nailwal said that despite Polygon's critical role in expanding Ethereum, the foundation provides direct support to his team and often fails to recognize Polygon's Layer 2 contributions.
Related article: ETH Outlook: Why the current bearish trend is bullish for long-term investors
He claimed that the Ethereum community “guarantees that polygons will never be considered L2.”
“When Polymarket wins big, it's 'Ethereum,' but Polygon itself is not Ethereum. That's mind-boggling,” Nailwal said.
buterin responds
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin later responded, thanking Polygon for its early efforts in zero-knowledge technology and continued efforts in integrating scaling solutions. He also acknowledged the real-world impact of Polygon's community-driven initiatives like CryptoRelief.
Buterin credited Polygon with the success of Polymarket, one of the most successful non-financial Ethereum applications.
We really appreciate both @sandeepnailwal's personal contribution and @0xPolygon's invaluable role in the Ethereum ecosystem.
In summary:
* Polygon hosts @Polymarket. This is perhaps the most successful example of a “not just boring finance” app that actually delivered results.
— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) October 21, 2025
Buterin explained that many L2 teams are separated from ZK teams, allowing them to demonstrate expertise in each domain. He said he remains optimistic that Polygon will soon be able to adopt an off-the-shelf ZK system to achieve the full security guarantees of Ethereum Layer 2.
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